Fig. 2

DEPTOR depletion inhibits the proliferation of HCC cells in vitro and in vivo. a HLF and SMMC-7721 cells were transfected with shRNAs against DEPTOR or shNC control lentivirus. Western blot analysis was used to determine the knockdown efficiency. b The indicated HCC cell lines were subjected to the CCK8 assay. c The indicated HCC cell lines were subjected to colony formation assays. Representative images are shown (left panel) and statistical comparisons of the indicated groups were performed (right panel). d Subcutaneous tumors composed of HLF-shDEP1/2 cells and the control cells are shown in the left panels. Tumor volume is shown in the middle panels. Tumor weight is shown in the right panels. e IHC staining for DEPTOR and Ki-67 expression in xenograft tumors of different groups. Scale bar, 50 μm. The data represent the means ± SEM from three independent experiments. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001